be taken up in the order, showing the relative importance of each article in the minds of engineers.  For instance, more letters reached me asking for a good brand of oil than any other one article.  Then comes injectors, lubricators have third place, and so on down the list.  Now without any intention of advertising anybody’s goods I will give you the benefit of my years of experience and will be very careful not to mention or recommend anything which is not strictly first class, at least so in my opinion, and as good as can be had in its class, yet in saying that these articles are good does not say that others are not equally as good.  I am simply anticipating the numerous letters I otherwise would receive and am answering them in a lump bunch.  If you have no occasion to procure any of these articles, the naming of them will do no harm, but should you want one or more you will make no mistake in any one of them.

OIL

As I have stated, more engineers asked for a good brand of oil than for any other one article and I will answer this with less satisfaction to myself than any other for this reason:  You may know what you want, but you do not always get what you call for.  Oil is one of those things that cannot be branded, the barrel can, but then it can be filled with the cheapest stuff on the market.  If you can get Capital Cylinder Oil your valve will give you no trouble.  If you call for this particular brand and it does not give you satisfaction don’t blame me or the oil, go after the dealer; he did not give you what you called for.  The same can be said of Renown Engine Oil.  If you can always have this oil you will have no fault to find with its wearing qualities, and it will not gum on your engine, but as I have said, you may call for it and get something else.  If your valve or cylinder is giving you any trouble and you have not perfect confidence in the dealer from whom you usually get your cylinder oil send direct to The Standard Oil Company for some Capital Cylinder Oil and you will get an oil that will go through your cylinder and come out the exhaust and still have some staying qualities to it.  The trouble with so much of the so called cylinder oil is that it is so light that the moment it strikes the extreme heat in the steam chest it vaporizes and goes through the cylinder in the form of vapor and the valve and cylinder are getting no oil, although you are going through all the necessary means to oil them.

It is somewhat difficult to get a young engineer to understand why the cylinder requires one grade of oil and the engine another.  This is only necessary as a matter of economy, cylinder or valve oil will do very well on the engine, but engine oil will not do for the cylinder.  And as a less expensive oil will do for the engine we therefore use two grades of oil.

Engine oil however should be but little lower in quality than the cylinder oil, owing to the proximity of the bearings to the boiler, they are at all times more or less heated, and require a much heavier oil than a journal subject only to the heat of its own friction.  The Renown Engine Oil has the peculiarity of body or lasting qualities combined with the fact that it does not gum on the hot iron and allows the engine to be wiped clean.